I didn’t even realize that there was such a thing as loose tea until I started nursing. I grew up with plain old Lipton tea bags, which have sort of a comfort aspect to them for me. They remind me of going to my Grandma’s…she always serves coffee and tea, Lipton tea. I prefer the bags for convenience, but in general loose tea. It’s more of an individulized thing. You can have different preferences, the leaves have proper room to expand, and there’s a certain beauty to tea leaves.

Loose leaf for sure, even when desperate for tea I rarely grab bagged tea. It’s mainly a flavour thing, I get to control exactly how much real leaf I am using as opposed to the powder and crap that are in bags.

I also find there are way more varieties of tea in loose form than bagged. As well loose leaf hold more health benefits than bagged.

Loose, but I still like some bagged teas. I have a lot of Celestial Seasonings herbals for bedtime/chill time and some assorted bags. I also like the sachets/pyramid types that companies like Harney & Sons provide (the tins are so pretty!) for convenience.

Absolutely loose leaf. There really is no comparison. There is a huge difference in the flavor. Yeah, bags are easier, but, then, why are you drinking tea? Are you drinking tea because you like the flavor or because it’s convenient? If you’re drinking it for the flavor, you might as well get the most flavor you can out of it.

Even with the sacheted bags, there is a big difference – I’ve noticed this is especially true with Harney teas.

I think I’ve become a bit of a snob and will only drink loose now, unless I’m traveling or picking up Starbucks, who now use full leaf teabags anyway. It’s really a question of quality and taste. I drink tea for the enjoyment, so it might as well be the good stuff!

I default to loose leaf as I find it tends to offer a much better variety and quality of flavors. That said, I’m not against drinking bagged tea — I often buy pyramid sachets when I come across them in stores, and even the traditional bagged tea makes occasional appearances in my collection (although usually from a gift).

I think sometimes companies will use cheap teas in their teabags, because who’s going to know?

I like loose leaf tea, but I also enjoy our Southern Boy Teas iced teas that are packaged in tea bags.

I haven’t done it yet, but I’m willing to bet the quality of those teas doesn’t suffer from being in a tea bag. I imagine ripping it open and steeping the loose tea would yield as good a cup as steeping it in the bag.

I’m just saying I think it’s more about what’s inside the bag, than the actual bag itself. Just my opinion.